


a light from the shadows shall spring

by cyclothimic



Series: from ashes a fire shall be woken [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-01-07
Packaged: 2018-03-06 13:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3136283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyclothimic/pseuds/cyclothimic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"No, we are not riding the Dragon."</p><p>"Are you scared?" he said behind her, his breath tickling her ear.</p><p>She ignored the aflutter in her stomach whenever he spoke. She was just about ready to put him in a box and ship him back to where they came from when he just wouldn't stop touching the goddamn glass. If it wasn't for the fact that he might actually fly back here, she might actually do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a light from the shadows shall spring

**Author's Note:**

> i know it's a bit late but i feel like they deserve a new year fic, don't ya think?

_Where the hell am I?_ she thought as she stared at the ceiling fan hanging over her, spinning lazily, creaking every other spin as if it would collapse on top of her anytime soon.

It wasn't that she didn't feel threatened by the risk she's taking by lying on a bed directly under the fan, but at this moment, yawning seemed to be more of a priority. So she stretched her arms over head and yawned. When her yawning was done, she sluggishly rolled out of bed, putting her feet on the floorboard.

At least now, she wouldn't be hurt as bad she would by lying underneath the fan if it had fallen.

She looked around her, trying to get her bearings. And then her mouth formed an 'O' as she remembered where she was currently and why she was where she was.

"Hong Kong," she whispered.

She'd made an impromptu decision Christmas night after she left Barry's place and booked herself a flight ticket to Hong Kong the next morning. She didn't even bother sleeping. She just sent in a notification e-mail to Dr. Wells, informing him of her departure – she didn't tell him where though. And then she'd proceeded to pack her luggage, taking anything necessary and leaving the rest to purchase when she landed.

She'd landed last night and she'd checked into the hotel immediately. It was too cool to turn on the air-conditioner so she turned on the fan instead, dressed herself in her warmest sweater and sweatpants and went to sleep. It was barely surprising that she'd only the realized the fan's condition until today because she'd been so worn out last night after 16 hours of being in a plane.

Her phone rang on the bedside table. She groaned and reached out to it. She answered the call without even seeing the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Caitlin, why are you in Hong Kong?" Felicity's voice emitted through the earpiece.

She frowned. "How the hell do you even know I'm in Hong Kong?"

"I pinged your phone," Felicity said matter-of-factly, as if the fact that she'd pinged Caitlin's phone was not at all creepy.

"You  _what_?"

Caitlin could practically see Felicity supporting her head in her hand for her mistake. "I need a distraction. So I pinged your phone. And found out you're in Hong Kong. And I need  _more_  distraction. So I'm calling you now and asking you  _why_  you're in Hong Kong. Really, you shouldn't even be surprised. I  _am_  me."

"Okay, okay, I'm getting a little hazy right now. I don't know if I should answer your question first or ask you the question I have  _for_  you," Caitlin said, closing her eyes.

"Answer my question first," Felicity directed without pause.

Caitlin nodded, even though she knew Felicity couldn't see her all the way over there. "Well, I need to get away," she said simply.

"Get away from what?"

Caitlin sighed. She propped her elbow on her knee and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ronnie's not dead, apparently," she said, barely managing to speak those words.

There was a slight pause before Felicity said, "Come again?"

Caitlin couldn't help but release a humorless chuckle. She could only imagine her own reaction if their roles were reversed and she was hearing this from Felicity. So she decided to make herself comfortable on the bed, despite the fact that she literally just woke up. And then she proceeded to tell Felicity the whole story of meeting Ronnie again and then Ronnie leaving again.

When she was done, Felicity was quiet. "I know I might act as if I'm okay at home with Barry and Cisco and everyone else. But I'm  _not_. And I just need some time to myself, you know."

"Yeah, I totally get it," Felicity replied. And then without delaying, she asked, "Can I join you?"

Caitlin blinked. Her brows gathered in the middle of her forehead slowly. "Tell me  _why_  you need a distraction," she said instead of giving Felicity a confirmation. A long silence stretched out between them. She didn't know why but she could practically feel the desperation and fear Felicity's feeling. "Felicity, is everything okay over there in Starling City?"

"Yeah," Felicity said. Actually, she choked. "Everything's fine here in Starling City. Captain Boomerang's in prison. The crime rate's going down. What's  _not_  fine?"

"The fact that your sarcasm is incredibly palpable right now tells me that something's not fine."

She listened to Felicity exhale a shuddering breath. "Remember the DNA sequence I asked you to assess?" Caitlin gave her affirmation. Then it became Felicity's turn to tell her story about Oliver's little sister; about the League of Assassins; about Malcolm Merlyn; about Oliver's act of self-sacrificial to protect his sister; and about his confession of love before he went off to flirt with Grim Reaper. "So yeah, I need a distraction too. So can I join you?"

"Felicity," Caitlin said, "I'm so sorry." The blonde may not have made it known but anyone with eyes could see that she and Oliver were irrevocably in love with one another.

"Don't," Felicity said weakly. "You know what? Forget what I said. I'm crazy to suggest that anyway. They need me here. Even if he's…not around," her hesitation was not missed by Caitlin, "life still goes on. Diggle and Roy still need me around to fight crime. Enjoy yourself out there, Caitlin."

"Hey, I'm gonna be here for like four more days. You can join me anytime you want, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. Oh and by the way, give Barry a call. He's worried sick about you."

Caitlin's brows shot up to her forehead. "Why? I sent in a notice to Dr. Wells."

"Yeah, well, you didn't exactly tell him where you're off to and Cisco's skills still aren't up to par to mine so he called me rambling about you being reckless and not letting him know and asking me to check up on you. You know the deal."

Actually, she wasn't sure she did. "Sure, okay. And you, you just hang in there, alright? Call me if you need someone to talk to."

"International call rate isn't actually cheap," Felicity quipped.

Caitlin chuckled. "Yeah, well, you're the Vice President of Palmer Technologies right now so I'm pretty sure you can afford it."

After another reassurance from one another, they hung up. Caitlin stared at her phone, perplexed. Barry, worried sick about her? Sure, they were close friends now. She and he had been through quite a lot together in quite a short time. But she didn't know it would warrant a frantic call to another close friend of theirs when she suddenly skipped town.

She licked her lips and dialed his number before she could think otherwise. "Caitlin!" Barry basically yelled when he picked up the call. "Where are you?"

"I'm safe," she answered.

"That doesn't answer my question," he said. Before she could retort, he continued, "I could just call Felicity and ask her where you are, you know."

Caitlin rolled her eyes. "I'm in Hong Kong. I'm  _fine_ ," she insisted when she heard him splutter over the phone. "I just need some time to myself. Don't worry about me."

" _Don't worry_?" he practically screeched. "You're in Hong Kong! That's like on the other side of the globe!"

"Barry," she started, "calm down. I'm fine, okay? I'll be back in four days, I promise."

She could practically see him narrowing his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Okay." Barry sighed. "Call me if you need anything."

"Alright."

* * *

After answering and returning calls, she got out of bed, showered, changed into travel clothes and went down to have her breakfast. And then she took a cab to go to her destination of the day, Victoria Peak. Thankfully, the people there could speak English, even though it was a little broken, or she was sure she wouldn't be able to get out of there when she was done.

She went back to her hotel and walked the streets. In the end, she bought herself a pair of boots. And then she had her dinner by eating various tidbits in the noisy market.

To be honest, she was really enjoying herself. Her mother used to tell her that if she found herself in a bit of a situation, she should have a little getaway. She was glad she took her mother up on that advice. Hong Kong was a perfect distraction. She loved the friendliness and the warmth of the people in this place. It kind of contrasted her own personality but she loved it anyway.

When the clock eleven, she was exhausted. So she walked the path back to her hotel building. She was looking for her keycard in her purse when she was walking down the hallway to her room, which was why she didn't notice someone waiting for her at her door.

"Hey," he greeted her.

She yelped and jumped, her keycard flying out of her hand. But he caught it with his speed. "Barry," she whispered loudly. She stared at him wide-eyed as he stood there with an amused smirk, dressed in a long coat and wool jacket beneath it and a cotton sweatshirt beneath the jacket. His hair was mussed in a really cute way. "What are you doing here?" she asked, this time in her normal voice.

The smirk transformed into a sheepish smile. He reached behind to scratch the back of his head. "I thought I could…give you company while you're here," he explained a little.

Her frown deepened. "Accompany me?"

He clicked his tongue and even he looked a little mortified at himself. "Uh, yeah! After I got your call, there was like a robbery and I stopped it. And then I realized that I kind of missed you at the lab," he winced, "so I booked a plane ticket, gave the precinct and Dr. Wells a notice and came here."

Wait, did he just say he  _missed_ her?

"Yeah," he said as he nodded. She mentally slapped herself for speaking that out loud.

"But you can't just  _come_ here to Hong Kong like nothing! They need you there! What about Iris? And Detective West? STAR Labs need you!"

"It needs you too!" Barry replied as enthusiastically. "Look, I'm here already and I'm not going back until you go back which you  _will_  in four days. They can handle four days without me."

She groaned and rubbed her forehead like he was starting to give her a headache. "Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening," she grumbled. "How do you even know I'm staying at this hotel?"

He grinned innocently and shrugged. "I called Felicity."

"Oh great," she muttered, throwing her hands up after she threw her shopping bags on the floor. "That's just marvelous. I would have taken Felicity over you anytime."

"Hey!" he said, even managed to look offended. "I am  _great_  company!" She gave him a look and grunted. "If you're gonna scold me like a mother, can we at least do it inside? It's kind of awkward to stand out here. They'll think we're having a lovers' spat or something."

Her jaw dropped. "You did not just…" She grunted louder this time. "Go to your own room. I'm tired and I want to sleep and you're blocking my way." He refused to move. She glared at him, ready to give him another earful when the look on his face told her. "Don't tell me you flew all the way over here to Hong Kong but didn't book a hotel room." He shrugged and the sheepish look returned. She sighed and dropped her head. "How is this happening to me?" she whimpered.

And then she shoved him out of the way and shoved –  _shoved,_ she did – the keycard into the keyhole. When the light turned green, she opened it violently and stormed inside, throwing her coat and jacket on the bed.

"You're sleeping on the couch," she snapped.

"But it's cold," he whined as he closed the door behind him.

She spun on her heel and stared at his huge luggage. "I'm sure you've packed enough clothes to suffice one night. There's an extra blanket in the closet. You're sleeping on the couch!" she insisted, pointing at said object. "It's an extremely comfortable couch so don't worry about getting back ache."

He pouted but nodded in agreement anyway. She sighed loudly and grabbed her things before heading into the bathroom to change. She stared at herself in the mirror after she'd brushed her teeth and washed her face. The fact that Barry Allen was right outside and they were going to spend the night sleeping in the same room was not neglected. In fact, it was swirling in her mind like an annoying little bee.

"He's just being a concerned friend." An overly concerned one at that. "It'll be over in four days and life will go on as usual." Only, she wasn't sure if it would.

She heaved a sigh and proceeded to exit the bathroom. He'd made himself comfortable on the couch, having already arranged the blanket and apparently he thought it was okay to steal two pillows from the bed. He was currently flipping through channels on TV.

"It's all yours," she said, her tone was much nicer than she was before, having already schooled herself in the bathroom.

He leaped out of the bed, gathered his items, flashed her a grateful smile and closed the bathroom door behind him – all in no more than five seconds.

She stared at the bathroom door for a moment, wondering how she was going to survive the next four days with a crazily active friend by her side. She shook her head and arranged the bed.

* * *

She found herself getting woken up by someone shaking her quite violently. She swapped at those hands and tugged her blanket over her head to muffle his voice. Only to have him remove it completely, revealing her in all her SpongeBob pajamas glory.

Her eyes snapped open. She rolled over, ready to give her disturber an earful, only to stop when she saw Barry Allen standing over her as he eyed her in amusement. He'd already changed into his street clothes. Caitlin was sure she'd never seen him wear a leather jacket until today. And despite her muddled mind, she had to admit that he looked  _good_.

But that did not forgive him for waking her up from one of the most peaceful sleep she'd ever had.

"Jesus," she hissed. "What do you want now?" No, she did not whine that last word.

"Are those SpongeBob pajamas?" he asked, his voice laced with laughter.

"What? I can't wear SpongeBob pajamas?" she retorted. His brows raised and his lips pursed as he shook his head. She rolled her eyes in annoyance and rolled out of bed, knowing that he wouldn't allow her to go back to sleep now that she was awake. She looked at the clock on the bedside table. "Are you  _kidding_  me?" she virtually shrieked. "You woke me up at  _seven_  in the goddamn morning? What is  _wrong_ with you?"

He stared at her wide-eyed. "Don't you usually wake up at six in the morning?"

She groaned and jumped onto her feet. "Yeah, well,  _usually_  I have to be at STAR Labs. Now I'm having a vacation and I don't intend to be at a lab anytime soon so it's not unusual if I want to get my share of sleep and wake at the ungodly hour of the afternoon because guess what, that's what people do on a vacation!"

"No, they don't, actually." She glared at him, her jaw clenched. "I'm sorry," he then offered. "I just…it's my first time in Hong Kong and I want to see it."

She exhaled in surrender. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see the innocent and playful look he often had.  _Too late_. She'd already seen it and she'd already softened towards him. She waved her hands in the air and went to grab her clothes from the closet.

"Just…watch some TV or something while I shower," she said softly without looking at him before she headed into the bathroom.

As she stood under the shower, she wondered how she could be younger than him but he could be more of a child than she was. She wondered how he could get almost everyone to like him. He even got  _her_  to like him with his playful nature and untainted laughter. She guessed it was just him.

They both headed downstairs to grab breakfast.

"So where are we going today?" he asked with chewed up ham sandwich in his mouth.

She grimaced and handed him a piece of tissue. "Please speak after you're done chewing," she pleaded. "We're going to Ocean Park."

"Cool," he said with a grin and the damn chewed up sandwich in his mouth.

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

* * *

She slapped at his hand when his forefinger was stretching out to touch the glass.

"Did you not see the warning that specifically said to  _not_  touch the glass?" she hissed at him.

He rubbed at his hand but he grinned mischievously. "We don't have to follow the rules all the time, Caitlin."

"They are rules for a reason!" she snapped.

He stared at her for a moment and then his eyes traveled towards the jellyfish glass case. His eyes twinkled under the blue light and his smile widened. Then he turned back towards her, his finger reaching out towards the glass again.

She clicked her tongue and slapped at his hand harder. "Barry!" she chastised, loud enough for the entire room to look at her.

* * *

"No, we are not riding the Dragon."

"Are you scared?" he said behind her, his breath tickling her ear.

She ignored the aflutter in her stomach whenever he spoke. She was just about ready to put him in a box and ship him back to where they came from when he  _just wouldn't stop touching the goddamn glass_. If it wasn't for the fact that he might actually fly back here, she might actually do it.

So she resorted to making Barry stand behind her, looping his arms around her waist and then stuffing his hands in her coat pockets. As an extra measure, she wrapped her hands around his hands in her pocket. And they'd been walking everywhere like that since.

Even though their hands were gloved, she could feel the warmth of his hands with her hands. They'd gotten quite a few adoring glances – some were annoyed. And the attendants in souvenir shops would not stop suggesting couple outfits or hats or gloves for them to purchase. She'd long since given up insisting that they were not a couple, while he just smiled and grinned whenever someone suggested that they were dating.

Right now, they were standing amongst the crowd, staring at the looming structure of a pretty scary looking rollercoaster. "It's dangerous!"

"Come on!" Barry bounced a little on the heels of his feet. She could feel his front rubbing up and down her back. Her cheeks reddened. "It should be fun!"

She snorted and turned back to stare at the bottom of his chin. He looked down at her, leaving only a few inches between their faces. Caitlin blinked when she found herself making eye contact with him. His grin slowly faded as well when he realized their situation. She quickly turned back to the front. He made a move to remove his hands as he cleared his throat quite exaggeratedly. But she tightened her hold on his hands. She could feel his eyes burning into the back of her head.

She told herself that it was only because she didn't want him wandering off or touching things he shouldn't touch. She snorted. "Of course you'd say it'd be fun! You're used to speed!"

He laughed. "Caitlin, you gotta have a little fun! You came to Hong Kong to get your mind off things!"

"What's that got to do with rollercoaster?" she exclaimed incredulously.

He was silent for awhile and she smirked to herself. "Okay, fine, maybe it's got nothing to do with rollercoaster," he relented. "But come on! Humor me!"

"Humoring you would be allowing you to hitch a ride on the freaking Dragon. But you're asking me to ride  _with_ you and that won't be happening. Ever!" she added obstinately.

"I sat on a plane for more than 16 hours to accompany you!"

He did not just pulled that card on her. She sucked her lips inwards as she stared at the structure and listened to the passengers shrieking at the top of their lungs.

* * *

"You are not using that to persuade me to do anything  _again_ ," she barely managed as she sat on the cobbled ground, her head on his shoulder.

Yes, they were sitting on the damn ground at the exit of the Dragon rollercoaster. Yes, his exclamation had worked and she'd made the stupid decision to queue up with him. Yes, she'd sat beside him in one of the rows anyway despite the twenty-one times she'd wanted to leave the queue before it was their turn.

It ended with her getting hollow legs and spinning head after the ride and he had to piggyback her down the stairs to the exit of the ride. She was just short of throwing up on him. And now they were sitting on the ground like lunatics but it was entirely his fault so shut up. Stop laughing.

He chuckled cheekily and went on to wrap his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him. She groaned at the movement but went along with it anyway. She shifted a little so she could bury her face into the material of his coat and loop her arms around his waist. She would claim temporary insanity later but she quite enjoyed the feeling of being burrowed in his embrace.

She vaguely remembered the last time she'd felt this comfort was before Barry Allen was introduced into her life.

"Admit it. You had fun." Rather than heard him clearly, she could feel the vibrations through his body as he spoke.

She smacked his chest limply. "No, that was a nightmare. You are not a normal human being for enjoying that." She groaned quietly when she realized what she just said.

"I am  _not_  a normal human being. That is indeed true." Great, he'd adopted a British accent as well.

"Stop," she stopped him. "Stop pretending to be British or I'll literally throw up on you."

Thankfully, he found her to be an intimidating woman because he really did stop. In fact, he stopped talking entirely. But she  _knew_  that he was amused and delighted. She just  _knew_  it.

A number of curious glances and a few rubs on her shoulder from him later, he probed, "How do you feel?"

She'd nearly fallen asleep and she inhaled sharply when his voice cut through her half-asleep mind. She slowly lifted her head from his shoulder and then withdrew her arm from around him. But his arm remained around her shoulders though.

"I feel better now," she said. He looked unconvinced. "Trust me; I'm good enough to walk."

He nodded. Only then did he stand up, removing his arm from around her. And then he offered her his hand. She grabbed it and pulled herself up. "Let's go grab lunch," he said.

She inclined her head in agreement.

It was not only until they sat down at a table in the food court and he'd released her hand that she realized: they'd been holding hands the entire fifteen minutes they'd spent walking here.

* * *

"Thank you for putting on a shirt," she said sarcastically when he came out of the bathroom in long sleeve shirt and a pair of sweats.

He grinned. "Well, you basically blew a gasket when I wanted to sleep without one last night," he teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him. She went back to reading her book but she found herself involuntarily lifting her eyes to watch him arranged the couch with the blanket and the pillows. The couch was fit for two people. And Barry was tall. As he stretched out on the couch and turned on the TV, she saw part of his legs hanging off the arms of the couch.

She worried her lips, the screws in her head turning. She closed her eyes when she reached a conclusion, knowing she was going to regret it. She opened them again and reached behind her to pull out the bolster pillow, placing it in the middle of the bed and lifting her blanket so it wouldn't be stuck underneath the pillow.

She stared at the bolster pillow for a few seconds before she sighed and looked towards the man currently watching a Korean drama on TV. "Hey, Barry," she called.

He lifted himself to rest on his elbow and look at her. He looked as if he was gonna fall off the couch at any second. She patted the space on the other side of the pillow. He looked confused.

She rolled her eyes. Of course he would need her to elaborate. Sometimes, she wondered how he even graduated university. "You can sleep here," she said.

His eyes widened into saucers and he gaped at her for a moment. "Really?" he said in shock. She nodded with a kind smile. He looked relieved for a second before he leaped to his feet and gathered the pillows and the blanket and dragged them towards the other side of the bed. He arranged everything happily and she watched him in amusement. When he lounged next to her – albeit with a pillow separating them – he beamed at her gratefully. "Thank you. It was freezing last night on the couch."

"You're the Flash," she said. "I'm pretty sure you can generate warm with your speed."

He shook his head. "Not on myself, I cannot." Okay, now he was mimicking Yoda. She was starting to regret offering him the space next to her. "I promise: I will not touch a hair on you."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You better."

She went back to reading her book as he continued watching the drama. Around two or three sentences later, her mind to wander.

Barry had been amazingly wonderful to her, not just today, but for the past couple of weeks. He'd been so nice that it was bordering upon obsession. He'd accompanied her to go into the hole. He'd sat with her after that and didn't even speak. He just sat there as she worked. He bought her ice-cream from time to time when she was spending late nights there. There were a few times when she saw him sleeping on one of the bunks in the other room. He even traveled here to Hong Kong when he knew that she was here because he thought she would be lonely.

If she didn't know better, she would think that he had a crush on her.

But she did know better.

Barry Allen could never have a crush on her. He was in love with Iris West. And Iris West was dating Eddie Thawne. Iris seemed to be fairly smitten with the detective so she couldn't see them breaking up any sooner. So now, Barry was pining after Iris. So it was quite impossible for him to crush on Caitlin.

Weirdly enough, Caitlin felt a strange feeling in her chest when she thought of that. She shook her head to rid herself of these nonsense and went back to her book.

* * *

Ronnie was standing in front of her. He looked like he did before the event occurred, hair cropped to his scalp and handsome as usual. He looked like the man she was about to marry.

She grinned and reached out to him when he offered her his hand with that charming grin of his. Just when their fingers were about to touch, his face contorted into a look of torture. His hair grew at a rapid pace.

She flinched backwards in terror as she watched him drop to his knees, clutching his head and screaming. She couldn't hear him scream though. Everything was quiet. When she was about to reach for him, he burst into flames, just like he did last time.

"Ronnie!" she called loudly. It was like he couldn't hear her as he kept screaming in vacuum. She cried again, "Ronnie!"

And then she felt the ground shake and the world around her shake.

"Caitlin!"

She gasped awake and she stared at the man looming over her as she gasped for air. She recognized him to be Barry. He was holding her forearms tightly. He watched her, the vein in his forehead throbbing as his eyes filled with concern.

He waited until she'd schooled her features and her breathing rate returned to normal. "Hey, you alright?"

His gentle voice managed to guide her back to reality and she swallowed. She could distinctly remember the features of her nightmare. Her eyes began to well with tears. At the sound of her whimper, he crossed over the pillow between them and gathered her in his arms. She draped her arms over his torso and wept into his shirt, wetting it.

He shushed her and brushed his hand through her hair gently.

She remembered what she told Cisco the other day, about how she wished Ronnie had died instead of having to suffer like he did. After seeing Ronnie in her dream, that wish returned. If he had just died, he wouldn't be in so much pain. And selfish as it might be,  _she_  wouldn't have to go through the pain of knowing he'd survived and he'd became another one of those metahumans.

* * *

She woke up to steady heartbeat. No, she was really hearing steady heartbeat in her ear. She blinked her eyes open slowly and found herself entangled with someone. She frowned, recognizing this heartbeat as she'd listen to it a million times before.

Barry.

Caitlin's head was resting against his chest. Her arms were wrapped around his waist tightly. One of his arms was looped around her back and his other hand was holding hers at his waist. Their legs were a mess of tangled limbs and it was only through the color of their pants that she could differentiate which leg belonged to whom.

Before, she would have leaped out of bed and felt guilty because it would be like she was cheating on Ronnie. Now, however, she found herself  _not_  detaching herself from him. She  _liked_ it. She liked the feeling of being embraced by Barry in such a loving way.

Something had changed along the way yesterday. Some vibes had shifted. She failed to identify it yesterday. Probably because she was in denial. But she recognized it now. She felt that her friendly affections towards Barry had changed into something else. And dared she say it, his towards her had changed as well.

It wasn't love, but it was definitely more than friends.

Before she had more time to ponder, his heartbeat had quickened. He was awake. She hesitated for a bit before she raised her head to look up at him. What she saw in his eyes took her breath away.

"Good morning," she whispered.

He smiled tenderly and reached out to brush a stray hair back. "Good morning."

* * *

Things were the opposite of awkward between them. They were comfortable with each other. Caitlin knew that Barry had recognized the shift between them. She knew that he knew that she knew things had shifted between them as well.

They didn't speak it aloud. Instead, they sat next to each other at the table, unlike yesterday morning when they sat opposite each other, for breakfast. They held hands as they walked through the streets. He bought her a scarf. She fed him a bite of her gelato. It almost felt like they were on a date.

The last time she'd felt this way was when she was on her initial stage of dating with Ronnie. She didn't realize that she missed it until today.

During dinner, he insisted on paying. A small smile spread over her face but that was it. She took his proffered hand when he offered it and they walked out of the restaurant hand in hand, side by side. Somewhere along the way, the cold had driven her to loop her arm around his.

And then they found themselves sitting on a bench directly in front of the Clock Tower. It was a beautiful sight at night, lighted up in gold. He had his arm behind her on the bench and she was leaning into him.

"Was that a date?" she finally asked.

He hummed and turned towards her. She didn't find it uncomfortable anymore as their faces were just inches apart, their lips closer. She felt an urge to do something but she quelled it.

He smiled enigmatically and looked down at their conjoined hands on his knee. "Do you want it to be?" he asked.

She bit her lower lip and smirked as she watched his pupils darkened. "I do, actually," she answered honestly.

He looked slightly taken aback but then he chuckled. He nodded. "Then it's a date."

"Will there be more?" she asked again.

He sucked his lips in and stared at her with a longing glimmer in his eyes. "I would hope so."

She couldn't stop herself before she asked, "What about Iris?"

He shifted in his seat so he could face her with his entire lanky figure. "Iris is in the past. Yes, I loved her." She swallowed. "She's very happy with Eddie, though. And I realized that…during the past few months," he grinned at her, "my feelings for her aren't quite as deep anymore. And when I got to spend more time with you, well, you can figure out what happened."

She smiled back at him. "Yeah?"

He nodded. "Yeah." He took a deep breath. "What about Ronnie?" he queried in return.

She smiled melancholically. "You have to understand that Ronnie will always have a part of me, regardless of how small it is. I mean, I was about to marry him if it wasn't for what happened." He nodded in understanding. "But you…" She laughed helplessly. " _You_ helped me through a lot for the last few months. And I don't want to hold it out for too long. I mean, look at Felicity and Oliver now."

He looked a little regretful at the thought of the situation their two friends were in now. She felt regretful too. "So...you're it…for now."

"For now?" he echoed.

She shrugged with a naughty smirk. "We'll just have to see what happens."

His grin turned into a tender smile. His head began inching towards her until their lips were just a breath away. "Yeah, I guess we will. Surprising what a trip to Hong Kong can bring you, huh?"

"Not all who wander are lost."

He canceled the distance by pressing his lips towards her. Fireworks erupted over the Clock Tower and in her entire being.

"Happy New Year, Barry Allen."

He withdrew slightly – just slightly – and grinned. "Happy New Year, Caitlin Snow."

And he kissed her again.


End file.
